AG Bondi Said It Was “What American Justice Looks Like.”
An Obama Judge Said It Was “An Abuse of Prosecuting Power.” The Charges Are Gone.
On May 22, 2026, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. — appointed by President Barack Obama, confirmed 92-0 by the Senate in 2016, and sitting in the Middle District of Tennessee — dismissed every criminal charge against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national the federal government has publicly identified as an MS-13 gang member who smuggled thousands of migrants over a nine-year period.
In a 32-page ruling, Crenshaw found the prosecution “an abuse of prosecuting power” — a vindictive and selective prosecution brought not because of Abrego Garcia’s alleged crimes, but because he successfully sued the Trump administration in federal court and won the right to come back from El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. The indictment was filed the same day he landed on U.S. soil. The judge found the government’s investigation, closed for years, was reopened only after he prevailed in court.
The Department of Justice announced an immediate appeal to the Sixth Circuit. DHS called the ruling “naked judicial activism” and said his deportation order remains in effect. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who had personally traveled to El Salvador to lobby for Abrego Garcia’s release, praised the dismissal. Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran national with no lawful immigration status, whose charges included transporting thousands of migrants in a scheme spanning 100+ trips over nine years — remains in the United States.
- 100+Alleged smuggling trips, 2016–2025The federal indictment alleged Abrego Garcia made more than 100 trips, transporting thousands of migrants — including children and alleged MS-13 members — from Texas through Houston to other U.S. cities. Firearms allegedly transported from Texas to Maryland. Narcotics allegedly distributed in Maryland. Co-conspirators: six unnamed uncharged individuals.
- May 21, 2025Indictment filed — same day he landedThe grand jury indictment was filed May 21, 2025 (under seal), unsealed June 6 — the same day Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. following Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit orders. Judge Crenshaw found the timing evidence of a pre-planned retaliatory prosecution.
- 92-0Senate confirmation vote for Judge CrenshawWaverly D. Crenshaw Jr. was nominated to the Middle District of Tennessee by President Obama on February 4, 2015, confirmed by the Senate on April 11, 2016 — 92 votes in favor, zero opposed. He served as Chief Judge from April 2017 through April 2024.
- 4 daysICE re-detention attempt — barred by courtAfter charges were dismissed, DHS stated it intends to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country (Uganda). A federal judge barred ICE from re-detaining him pending appeal. His deportation order remains legally valid per DHS.
- CECOTThe El Salvador mega-prison he came fromAbrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador's CECOT maximum-security mega-prison on March 15, 2025, as part of Trump's mass deportation operations. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on April 10, 2025 that the deportation was unlawful and ordered his return 'facilitated.' He landed back in the U.S. on June 6, 2025.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, born July 1995 in Los Nogales, San Salvador, crossed into the U.S. illegally near McAllen, Texas around 2011–2012. He has never held lawful immigration status. He lived in Prince George’s County, Maryland with his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen.
In March 2019, Prince George’s County police detective Ivan Mendez — later suspended April 2019, placed on a “do not call” list in 2021, and fired in December 2022 — identified Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member based on tattoos, clothing, and an informant’s claim that he was a “chequeo” (low-level rank) in the Sailors clique. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the finding in December 2019. A 2019 withholding order barred his deportation to El Salvador, acknowledging he faced gang-related threats — but did not clear him of the MS-13 designation.
On November 30, 2022, Abrego Garcia was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol on Interstate 40 for speeding and lane violations. His vehicle contained eight additional passengers, no luggage. Body-camera audio of an officer: “He’s hauling these people for money.” His expired driver’s license contained a federal notation about MS-13 affiliations. ICE declined custody at the time. The investigation was formally closed — then reopened specifically after the April 2025 Supreme Court orders requiring his return.
Route: Migrants originated in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. They crossed into Texas, were picked up and transported via Houston to destinations across the U.S.
Cover story: Abrego Garcia and co-conspirators claimed to be transporting construction workers.
Method: Confiscated migrants’ phones during transport to prevent contact with anyone en route. Returned phones at the destination.
Duration: 2016 through 2025 — approximately nine years, 100+ trips, thousands of migrants.
Weapons: Firearms allegedly purchased in Texas and transported to Maryland for resale or distribution.
Narcotics: Drug distribution in Maryland alleged in the indictment.
Co-conspirators: Six named in the indictment — all uncharged as of May 2026.
Presumption: Abrego Garcia has not been convicted of any of these charges. All allegations above are from the federal indictment. He pleaded not guilty. The charges have now been dismissed; DOJ has announced an appeal.
Under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, a defendant can challenge a prosecution as “vindictive” if the government took harsher action specifically because the defendant exercised a legal right. When the government cannot rebut the presumption, the charges must be dismissed. Judge Crenshaw’s 32-page ruling applied this doctrine to find the government’s timeline self-defeating.
“The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution.”
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. (Obama appointee) · Middle District of Tennessee · May 22, 2026
“The evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power.”
Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. (Obama appointee) · 32-page ruling · May 22, 2026
The judge’s specific findings: the 2022 traffic-stop investigation was closed with no charges filed for more than two years. The investigation was only reopened after the courts ordered Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador. Acting AG Todd Blanchemade public statements connecting the reopened investigation to Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit — “taint[ing] the investigation with a vindictive motive” in Crenshaw’s words. A Feb. 5, 2025 AG Bondi memo warning DOJ staff of potential termination for failing to advance the administration’s goals was also cited. The indictment was filed on May 21, 2025 — the day before he landed back in the U.S.
“Another activist judge has placed politics above public safety. The judge's order is wrong and dangerous, and we will appeal.”
DOJ spokesperson · May 22, 2026
“This Salvadoran is not going to remain in our country.”
Department of Homeland Security · May 22, 2026
Today's ruling is naked judicial activism. Kilmar Abrego Garcia's final order of removal remains in full legal effect. DHS will continue to pursue every legal avenue to ensure this individual is removed from the United States.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) — Personally traveled to El Salvador on the taxpayer dime to visit Abrego Garcia at CECOT and lobby for his release. After the May 22 dismissal, Van Hollen stated: “Today, a federal judge made clear what we have long known: the Department of Justice was engaged in a vindictive prosecution... a blatant abuse of prosecutorial power.” Border Czar Tom Homan (R) publicly stated Van Hollen traveled “to meet with an MS-13 gang member, public safety threat, and terrorist.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10) — A co-sponsor of legislation protecting congressional oversight visits to ICE facilities, still under federal indictment for the May 9, 2025 alleged assault on ICE agents at Delaney Hall.
Multiple Democratic members of Congress — Held press conferences characterizing Abrego Garcia as an innocent man wrongly deported. The Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling focused on due process, not innocence.
Senator Van Hollen traveled on the taxpayer dime to meet with an MS-13 gang member, public safety threat, and terrorist. The deportation was the right call. We will continue to pursue every avenue to remove Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the United States.
Garcia has been found by two separate Courts to be a member of the violent, killer gang MS-13, was in our Country illegally, and is under a Deportation Order. Democrats and the Fake News Media portraying him as 'innocent' is a total, blatant, and dangerous LIE.
Confirmed Trump Truth Social post — text verified via PolitiFact and multiple news sources. Abrego Garcia has not been convicted of any crime; he is presumed innocent. Trump was responding to Democratic characterizations after the Supreme Court ruling.
Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country.
Confirmed Trump Truth Social post — Easter 2025. Sourced via PolitiFact and Deadline reporting.
The facts are not in dispute on the core legal question: the federal government did not charge Kilmar Abrego Garcia for two-plus years after discovering his alleged nine-year smuggling operation in a routine 2022 traffic stop. It moved to charge him the moment he won in court. A federal judge appointed by Barack Obama — a man with no political incentive to side with the Trump DOJ — read those facts and called it “an abuse of prosecuting power.”
The accountability question is broader than this ruling. Democrats made Abrego Garcia into a national cause — Sen. Van Hollen traveling to El Salvador, Democratic members of Congress holding press conferences characterizing him as an innocent victim. The MS-13 gang designation remains disputed but was upheld by two immigration courts. The alleged nine-year smuggling operation — 100+ trips, thousands of migrants, firearms, narcotics — was detailed in a federal grand jury indictment.
The DOJ’s appeal to the Sixth Circuit is the next legal step. DHS has stated his removal order remains valid and has attempted to re-detain him for deportation to a third country. A federal judge barred the re-detention pending appeal. Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran national who entered the country illegally — remains in the United States, uncharged, with his asylum claim pending. Democratic members of the Senate celebrated the ruling. Border Czar Tom Homan said: “We will continue to pursue every avenue.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is presumed innocent of all charges. No convictions exist. This is an accountability report on the judicial and political conduct of named officials, not an assertion of guilt.